We played a short acoustic set at Books Actually on 30 September 2011. The songs will be on the forthcoming acoustic album we will be releasing.
For those of you who don't know, Books Actually is a cool little book store in Tiong Bahru that supports indie artists. Please support them and check them out at booksactually.com Thank You Kenny, Karen and Renee for making the gig possible. We really appreciate it.
As always, we had tons of fun playing with our friends Natalie and Victor. Here are videos of the song we played:
The album will be a digital release. We are however going to do a limited edition run of hard copies of about 35 to 40 pieces. We would be more than happy to reserve a copy for you if you are interested in having a limited edition copy. Drop us an email at lunarintheoracle@gmail.com and we'll reserve a copy for you.
Stay tuned for more updates! We are planning to do a music video and other little stuff in conjunction with the album release. All in the name of good fun!
With everlasting love
/.D./
We're Currently Occupied
Posted on 13 June 2011
Dear Friends
We are currently occupied. We are busy recording with a view of releasing a new album of B sides in late 2011.
Please bear with us and we will see you soon!
With everlasting love
/.D./
Coralline - The Life Without Dreams Remodel
Posted on 16 April 2011
Dear Friends
So, as we cross over the painful threshold of a weekday to the weekend, and many of you will no doubt be imbibing copious amounts of barley inspired beverages with various individuals termed as "your mates", we find it interesting to confront you, in the midst of your alcohol-infused moment of rapture, with one of life's hardest questions to answer:
"How would you define someone as being a friend?"
Ah yes, the perennial truth that everyone seeks. Is a true friend someone who would lend you money, buy you beer, hold your hair up with you are vomiting (Editor's note: if you are female and said "friend" is a male that does not count) and console you when your favourite football team is 4-0 down, even though his favourite team is the opposing side?
Is a true friend someone who will tell you when you have a bit of spinach stuck between your teeth, that you sound like a moron when you laugh, or (better still) let you know when naked pictures of you passed out and drunk are being circulated on Facebook? (whether or not he is responsible for the pictures being up in the first place is irrelevant in this hypothetical scenario).
In the context of a band, this question becomes even more loaded. Is he a friend because he digs my music? Is he a friend if he comes for my gigs (the fact that his band is also on the bill is, again, for purposes of discussion, irelevant). Is he a friend because he thanked me in the liner notes of his CD album?
As you'd probably guessed by now, we don't have many friends. But we are thankful for the small number who are our friends. And those of you who are part of the Inner Circle would have by now experienced our gratitude and love for being our friend.
Remember, if your last fleeting vision before passing us is of one of us forcing alcohol down your throat, insisting that you "spend the night" in a dodgy hotel, that is a sign of our love for you. It is remarkable we don't have more friends.
"And how would you know who are your friends?" you may ask.
"Ah" we say, "An attempt on your part at sarcasm eh?"
The truth of the answer is - we don't know. But we often can tell, more often than not, when someone is NOT a friend. So much so that when you sieve through the rubble and spot a diamond (ok wrong use of analogy here), you tend to know, instantly. It's like discovering the difference between sparkling grape juice and champagne. It's like comparing Pepsi with Coke. It's like knowing the difference between Tiger Beer and Chimay before passing out.
And through the turmoil and pain of releasing an album and trying to find ways to get the album heard, notwithstanding alleged "friends" who promise you the world and fail to deliver, we have come to terms with the fact that true friends that understand the music (thereby uderstanding us), are the diamonds that tumble through the rubble and hit the floor.
And when that understanding comes with the effort to further extrapolate our efforts into their own, to infuse our pain into theirs, such that they perform the other part of the symphony in harmony with ours in one perfect motion, the movement is complete, the effect is magical, the feelings are more than fleeting, and the relationship is cemented on a level that far exceeds any shallow PR message of promise and hope.
Because, in our world, there is no hope. All effort is futile. There can be no material rewards. But the pain can be shared. And beauty can be temporal or permanent, depending on how you will it to be. And it is in this context that we celebrate friendship on a musical level.
It is on this note that we are happy to share with you a remodel of Coralline by our friends LIfe Without Dreams. You can downnload the full single bundle (with accompanying artwork and written introduction) here:
By the time some of you read this, one of us will be travelling out of the country, searching for inspiration in foreign lands; whilst the rest of us will be carrying on with our mundane little lives, wondering when the next pseudo Rock Star moment will be.
In the meantime, all that's left are just the memories. Enjoy!
With everlasting love
/.D./
Mosaic Music Festival 2011
Posted on 13 March 2011
Dear Friends
Some of you may probably have heard the news that the band is playing the Mosaic Music Festival this year.
Yes. The band. THAT band. The one you know that enjoys playing heavy music. The band that plays outdated 90s riffs in order to drown out their bassplayer's pseudo melodic vocals with distortion and over the top drum fills. The band that deliberately writes ridiculously long songs to test your patience. The band that has probably written more songs than they have fans.
Now before you start wondering whether the band had to sacrifice a couple of vestal virgins to land this gig, it is important to bear in mind that the band will be playing an acoustic set and will leave their distorton pedals at home. Natalie Soh and Victor Ong have also been conned into helping them out with violins and cello so this is a set that will fit in swimmingly with the festival's other lineups.
"Who conceived of this wonderful masterstroke?" you may ask. Well, we have no idea.
"What will the band WEAR?" you may ponder.
Obviously won't be dressed like these guys
The crucial question would be, "What could they possibly PLAY?"
Good question. And here comes the point when we get a little cheeky and say, with a sinister smile on our lips:
"GUESS"
On a serious note, the band has been hard at work rehearsing for this show, and they hope to be able to play a set that will knock your socks off, burst your eardrums, and make you go streaking under the moon (ok, maybe you can skip that last part). It will be a night of great fun because the band will be performing together with their good friends Life Without Dreams and King Kong Jane. And did we mention that St. Etienne and Aphex Twin are performing that same night? Oh!
Date: Saturday 19 March 2011
Time: 715 pm to 800 pm
Venue: Esplanade Concourse
For what it's worth, admission is free.
Hope to see you then!
With everlasting love
/.D./
Message from Montreal
Posted on 7 February 2011
Dear Friends
A few days ago we received an email from Amy Goh from Montreal.
She told us that our music inspired her in her art and showed us samples of the work. We want to share her art with you because we love it.
A great big thank you to Amy for her email and her kind words. As we've mentioned before, it's moments like these that make the music making worthwhile.
With everlasting love
/.D./
New Year's Day Message
Posted on 8 January 2011
The End of 2010 vs. The Start of 2011: A Band's Survival Guide
Posted on 31 December 2010
Dear Friends
Here we are, on the threshold of a new year.
Most of us would open our eyes on the 31st and decide that it's time to begin things on a clean slate. Some of us may aspire to be better people, to do charity work, to be better tempered, to manage time better, to be more patient and giving... Yes we know the feeling - that growing optimism that for once the passing of time is not something to be loathed, but to be embraced. It is a time for change and make things new. You may decide, on your way out to the party, to send an emo text message to that ex girlfriend you have not spoken to for years, that ex co-worker who used to steal your biscuits, your boss (good luck)... There is goodwill. There is hope. There is a feeling that nothing is insurmountable.
Fast forward 24 hours later and we often find ourselves lying face down at the foot of a couch in a hotel suite, our mouths reeking with the stench of a dead rat, mothballs or a pro-P** ballot paper (or all three), hearing the snores of an unidentified male sleeping on the couch next to us with a half drunk beer can in his hands and the words "Happy New Year!" scribbled in magic marker on his chest.
It is often in those sobering moments, under the glare of the harsh reality of daylight as we pick ourselves up, that we will often say, "Screw those lofty new year resolutions. Given the way the year has started, I'll settle with bettering my scores in Angry Birds."
And so that is how it often is with the band.
What have we done this year?
We finished recording an album that almost killed us. We flew to Maine to get it mastered. We pressed and released it and made it available for sale. We played at Baybeats 2010. We had an album launch on 1 October 2010. We did an acoustic rendition of our songs with violins and cello.
"Was it worth it?" you say, with a glint in your eyes, daring us to say that we surpassed [censored] in terms of number of downloads for our single (we didn't), that we broke new records in terms of local CD sales in Gramophone (we can't verify this but more likely than not we didn't), that our single Zero Point Red made top 10 on national radio (yes it did! - oh wait that was level 3 inception...)
(Well we did make it on the lists of our favourite radio deejays on Unpopular Radio:
Are we to shift our eyes to our feet and twiddle our thumbs in embarassment? Perhaps, 5 years ago, we would have done exactly that. But frankly now, at this age and after doing this for as long as we could, we don't really give a damn. Our minds are instead focused on the next recording that we will be doing (acoustic B Sides) and the gigs we need to prep for in the new year (Mosaic Music Fest). Life is too short to fret over the things you can't control. And yet...
2010 was a good year for us because of the people we have met, the support we have garnered and more. For those of you who got that little signed note in the Duae CD (yes all 3 of us signed each individual note) we mean every word in it and still do. We still can't believe that people would buy the CD, download the music and come for our shows. Thank you thank you thank you. We still can't thank you enough.
For those of you aspiring to form bands (or are already in bands) and are curious about the secrets of our longevity, you would be pleased to know that one golden rule in this band is that we NEVER celebrate New Year's together. We used to, in the past, and it often led to tears being shed, angry words being traded, and a wastage of time money and space. And the truth is, we hardly (have never!) been inspired on New Years' Eve to write songs anyway. Goodwill, Hope and Forgiveness are not quintessential Lunarin traits. But that's just us.
But on a more serious note, and in light of the spirit of giving, we would like to share the following "rules" as a survival guide for all you would be rock stars out there:
1. Never lose that interest/curiosity/focus in life. Observe observe observe. Watch people. Learn. See. Feel. Be angry with something. Be moved by something. Inspiration is synonymous with life. You do not live alone by yourself. In Yoda-speak:"To be inspired, to live. You need."
2. If you want to stay on for long in a band, forgive but never forget. Don't bear grudges but remember the key moments when something didn't work out, or when words were said that shouldn't have been said, and don't repeat that mistake. Darcy of the Smashing Pumpkins once said that forming a band is iike being married to 3 people you don't even want to date (although hang on, wasn't she and James Iha dating?). She's right you know. And because of that, maintaining a connection in a band takes a lot of work. Deal with it intelligently.
3. Be honest with one another. If a riff sucks, say it. If the lyrics suck, say it. If the song is going nowhere from the second verse onwards, say it. You are one another's QC officer. If you want to put out something you will be collectively proud of, you need to be honest with one another. Otherwise you are better off playing FIFA than writing music together.
4. During songwriting, don't take yourself (and the music) too seriously. You are not going to change the world. You are not Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain or [insert idol/guitar god of your choice] You cannot contrive a song. A good song writes itself. You do not sit down and say, "Today I am going to write a song in the key of E and the first verse shall start with a monotone melody with lyrics touching on global warning and then it shall develop into a rousing chorus with hopeful lyrics and heavily syncopated drums and then I shall change the key of the song for the bridge and then write a guitar solo comprising of 16 notes before wrapping things up in a thunderous outro with shouting vocal melodies. Ok, now let's start!" It just doesn't work that way.
5. Be open to the fact that the "reward" comes in various forms and perhaps not what you intended it to be. For us, it was not about stellar record album sales. Rather, it was the forging of friendships (old and new) and the gratifying feeling of knowing your music has been busy making friends with other people (i.e. The Void). It is priceless. Really
So there you have it. Our little tiny present that you could take with you before you start sending text messages. And on that note we shall leave you with the music video of The Sky (Algiers) because it pretty much summed up the highlights of 2010 for us (and because our bassplayer made the video herself and wanted to show off)
Here's wishing all of you a very Happy New Year, good health, peace and joy for the new year to come.
